The Canadian soccer pyramid is weird.
-
The Canadian soccer pyramid is weird.
If you’re used to the clean ladders in Europe or South America—Div 1, Div 2, Div 3, promotion and relegation—Canada doesn’t work that way at all.
Start at the top: we actually have two top tiers. The Canadian Premier League (CPL) is the domestic league, fully sanctioned as Division 1. But our three biggest clubs—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver—don’t even play in it. They’re in Major League Soccer, a U.S.-run league. They’re sanctioned by Canada, but not part of the Canadian pyramid. No other country has its biggest teams outsourced like this.
Then there’s the missing rung. We have no Division 2. A player doesn’t climb steadily from Div 3 up the ladder.
Instead, Canada jumps straight from the CPL at the top down to regional, semi-pro Division 3 leagues: League1 Ontario, League1 BC, and PLSQ in Quebec. Everywhere else, these are the stepping stones below Div 2. Here, they’re the basement with nothing in between.
The only place all these pieces connect is the Canadian Championship—the Voyageurs Cup. That’s where CPL clubs, Canadian MLS clubs, and the winners of League1 meet in a knockout tournament. It’s how a semi-pro side from Nanaimo can end up facing Toronto FC. Fun, yes. But it also highlights how fragmented everything is.
Geography makes it even messier. Ontario and Quebec have strong Division 3 leagues. BC only launched theirs in 2022. The Prairies and Atlantic Canada are still experimenting with pilot projects. In practice, it’s less a national pyramid and more a patchwork of regional experiments.
And the player pathways are equally scattered. Some go through U SPORTS (university) into the CPL Draft. Others develop in League1 academies. Still others skip Canada altogether and head for Europe or U.S. colleges. There’s no natural progression.
So when people ask what Canada’s pyramid looks like, the answer is: it’s not really a pyramid.
It’s a collection of blocks, loosely tied together, with big gaps in the middle. It functions, but it’s unlike anything else in world soccer.
-
The Canadian soccer pyramid is weird.
If you’re used to the clean ladders in Europe or South America—Div 1, Div 2, Div 3, promotion and relegation—Canada doesn’t work that way at all.
Start at the top: we actually have two top tiers. The Canadian Premier League (CPL) is the domestic league, fully sanctioned as Division 1. But our three biggest clubs—Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver—don’t even play in it. They’re in Major League Soccer, a U.S.-run league. They’re sanctioned by Canada, but not part of the Canadian pyramid. No other country has its biggest teams outsourced like this.
Then there’s the missing rung. We have no Division 2. A player doesn’t climb steadily from Div 3 up the ladder.
Instead, Canada jumps straight from the CPL at the top down to regional, semi-pro Division 3 leagues: League1 Ontario, League1 BC, and PLSQ in Quebec. Everywhere else, these are the stepping stones below Div 2. Here, they’re the basement with nothing in between.
The only place all these pieces connect is the Canadian Championship—the Voyageurs Cup. That’s where CPL clubs, Canadian MLS clubs, and the winners of League1 meet in a knockout tournament. It’s how a semi-pro side from Nanaimo can end up facing Toronto FC. Fun, yes. But it also highlights how fragmented everything is.
Geography makes it even messier. Ontario and Quebec have strong Division 3 leagues. BC only launched theirs in 2022. The Prairies and Atlantic Canada are still experimenting with pilot projects. In practice, it’s less a national pyramid and more a patchwork of regional experiments.
And the player pathways are equally scattered. Some go through U SPORTS (university) into the CPL Draft. Others develop in League1 academies. Still others skip Canada altogether and head for Europe or U.S. colleges. There’s no natural progression.
So when people ask what Canada’s pyramid looks like, the answer is: it’s not really a pyramid.
It’s a collection of blocks, loosely tied together, with big gaps in the middle. It functions, but it’s unlike anything else in world soccer.
@atomicpoet
I've not been following in the last few years but what you describe sounds a bit like it used to be with Wales and England. FIFA insisted they tidy things up else Wales couldn't have it's own national team (at least so I was told when I was not paying much attention anymore). I'm a bit surprised they haven't been having words with Canada ... -
@atomicpoet
I've not been following in the last few years but what you describe sounds a bit like it used to be with Wales and England. FIFA insisted they tidy things up else Wales couldn't have it's own national team (at least so I was told when I was not paying much attention anymore). I'm a bit surprised they haven't been having words with Canada ...Andii אַנדִֽי The only reason CPL was formed was because, for Canada to host the World Cup, FIFA demanded that a national division 1 league had to exist.
Canada has only made it to the World Cup twice. And we’re automatically getting there next year simply because we’re a host nation.
Soccer is becoming bigger here, though. At least here in Vancouver, it’s the third most popular pro sport. More popular than lacrosse and basketball.
